This invention relates to reducing the viscosity of hydrocarbon oils by heating.
Most crude oils with high total acid number by ASTM method D664 (TAN), usually 2 mg. KOH/g or more, are also very viscous. This increases the handling problem, for example at production wells because of the extra energy necessary to pipeline the crudes to load ports for shipping. Employing heat soaking near production sites lowers viscosity which reduces pipeline facilities costs and the pumping costs to load ports.
There is an economic incentive to lower the viscosity of heavy crude oils near the production site because it facilitates shipping by pipeline where that is the preferred initial transportation method. Lower viscosity crudes can be shipped by pipeline at lower cost because of lower investment from smaller diameter pipe, less or not heating of the crude, and/or less energetic pipeline pumps.